Women's sports: five game-changers; Selected by the women's sports foundation.

1 TITLE IX

No single event in history has done more to advance women's sports in the U.S. than Title IX, the federal law signed in 1972 by President Richard M. Nixon that paved the way for girls and women to participate in sports by prohibiting gender discrimination in schools and colleges that receive federal funding.

Since it was enacted, Title IX has allowed for a record number of female participants in various sports, gave women athletes societal acceptance, and provided opportunities for greater prize money in sports such as tennis and golf. It also paved the way for events such as the NCAA Women's Final Four.

While some may view Title IX as reverse discrimination and controversial, due to the effect it has had on male sports programs in this country, no one can deny its social impact on gender equality by opening a door of advancement that had been previously locked shut.

2 WORLD DOMINANCE

Perhaps because of Title IX as well as the American emphasis on team sports in general, the U. S. has dominated women's team sports for the past couple of decades. The 1996 Olympics in Atlanta provided the perfect stage. The U.S. women captured the gold in basketball, soccer, and softball, the first Olympic "hat-trick" in those sports.

And the beat goes on. The soccer team won the 1999 World Cup at home over China 1-0 in a shootout in front of more than 90,000 fans, an American television audience estimated at 40 million, and a worldwide television audience of one billion. They made household names out of Kristine Lilly, Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, and the eventually shirtless heroine Brandi Chastain.

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The U. S. softball team has added two more Olympic golds to its resume (2000 and 2004). The undefeated '04 team was so good, outscoring the opposition 51-1 for the tournament, that the IOC has, at least for the time being, dropped softball as an Olympic sport beginning in 2012. Pitchers Cat Osterman, Jennie Finch, Lisa Fernandez, and Lori Harrigan gave up one run and 18 hits in 56 innings as the U. S. went 9-0.

Similarly, the women's basketball team zipped through the '04 Olympics undefeated (9-0). Except for a four-point win over Russia in the semi-finals, every victory was achieved with a double-digit margin. It's doubtful whether the grande dames of the sport (Lisa Leslie, Dawn Staley, and Sheryl Swoopes) will return in '08 in Beijing, but the reloaded American team will be favored again.

3 THE OTHER BABE

When asked if there was anything she didn't play, Mildred "Babe" Didrikson-Zaharias, replied, "Yeah, dolls." To be sure, Didrikson-Zaharias was the greatest all-around female athlete in history, having been chosen Associated Press Female Athlete of Year 6 times from 1932-54 and the AP's "Athlete of the Half Century" in 1950.

She was the first woman to win medals in three Olympic events--two gold and one silver--at the Los Angeles Game of 1932. She was denied the third gold when she went over the high jump bar head first--a technique barred by rules at the time.

Aside from her track accomplishments, Didrikson-Zaharias was an exceptional golfer, winning 55 pro and amateur events, including 10 women's majors and three U.S. Opens, despite taking up golf in 1935. In 1949 she helped found the Ladies Professional Golf Association. An outstanding baseball player, she once threw a baseball a record 296 feet and was nicknamed "Babe" after hitting five home runs in a game. Didrikson-Zaharias also garnered All-American honors in basketball.

4 BREAKING THE BARRIER

Just three years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier, Althea Gibson, in 1950, followed suit when she became the first African American to compete in the U.S. National Tennis Championships. She would later do the same at conservative Wimbledon before becoming the first black person to win both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon titles--in 1957 (and repeat the feat in 1958), a year after becoming the first black to win the French Open.

Possessing a solid serve and a penchant for an attacking style of play, Gibson, a 5-foot-11 right-hander, was exceptionally agile with superior foot speed, which allowed her to cover the court like a blanket. As Gibson developed as a player she became more consistent from the baseline. She won 11 Grand Slam events, including six doubles titles that bolstered her candidacy in both the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.

5 A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

With many minor league teams having disbanded because of World War II, due to the drafting of young men into the armed services, there was a legitimate concern that the pattern would continue and that Major League Baseball would suffer as well. That prompted Philip K. Wrigley, the chewing-gum mogul who had inherited the Chicago Cubs, to conceive of a plan to boost sagging attendance.

The original concept was for a girl's softball league to be formed. But a board of trustees, which included legendary Brooklyn Dodgers President and General Manager Branch Rickey, decided to create a game that combined both baseball and softball with its own modified rules. From its inception in 1943 through its demise in 1954, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a bastion for tomboys all over the U.S. and Canada. In that inaugural season, the Racine Belles defeated the Kenosha Comets three games to none in a best of five series in the AAGPBL's equivalent of the World Series. At its peak in 1948, the AAGPBL consisted of 10 teams and drew nearly a million fans.

The AAGPBL was depicted in the movie, A League Of Their Own, starring Tom Hanks and Geena Davis.